Baan Chang Elephant Park

Asiya came to visit! She found us an amazing elephant park to visit. The Baan chang elephant park teaches you about the behaviors and lifestyle of elephants and how to wash and care for them.

Fed them full bunches  of bananas and sugar cane. "They never say no to food." We wanted  to feed the  ones  in the back, but it was a challenge to pass the  front ones without them asking for more  food!

We took them on a walk...or did  they take us  on a walk? Either way it was scenic with luscious greenery all around, a bit nerve wracking at first tryin  to relax without being too relaxed that we might fall off because sometimes the  elephants can be "naughty," our guide tells us...

We washed them in a  pretty gross lake. Our trainer guide took our elephant,  Baan Wat, to the center, deep! Asiya and I are  like " come here (to the perimeter)." He's just smilling, chillin  on top of Baan Wat motioning us to go there...grossss the water  comes to past our abdomens. Did I mention there are chunks of stools floating around...its ok,  we pretended it was just Greenlake and had fun! ..even though out  of no where the guides start throwin  buckets of the water on us..I used every piece of Asiya's dry shirt I could find  to wipe  my face on.

A few things I learned;

-Sleep only for about 4 hrs/day. Can eat the remaining 20hrs/day!

-lifespan similar to humans. 80yrs is common, but could live to 100 if healthy

-skin starts to pigment when ages, starting around 30yrs.

-skin is a few inches thick, so to tell them good job, or 'deet!' you must forcefully pat their truck. They won't feel it if you only pet them.

-Vision is poor. Color blind too. Smell and hearing senses are sharp

-Amazing creatures! Wonderful inspiration for 'elephant walking' in Thai yoga massage!

Thai yoga massage course in Thailand!

Baan Hom Samunphrai, 'the house of sweet smelling herbs,' and my home for 2 weeks. A humble family business with Homprang passing on the oral tradition of Traditional Thai medicine she learned from her grandmother. A comfortable and welcoming ambiance with every house, every chair, and every curtain handmade by the family. I, along with only 7 other students, were delighted and beyond thankful to be invited directly into their home.

Side note - There were 3 French students ..and  I ended up learning  more French phrases than Thai!

Each day consists of one hour of Radisaton (ancient Thai yoga) and 6 hours of Thai massage demo and practice. Tends to be challeging for those who are new to such practice...as for me, after Bastyr and  China externship with an average of 10hours/day, this is vacation and how learning should be .

Can't forget the herbs! Herbal compress day! We thought it would be a nice break from 'work.' Little did we know...
We foraged, we chopped and smashed, we wrapped, and finally we massaged them into all the meridians!

Vipassana part 2- yin to yang, yang to yin

Noticing more benefits as I go on. No, I wouldn't say I am enlightened , but would say on the path. Day 10 was like day 1 in sense I feel refreshed. With all that anger and pain (yang), comes peace and clarity (yin). Less irritated, less negative. I rid of excess garbage of last x # years and am finally feeling more "debbie" which is good cause  that is my name.

Conversely, with all that excessive  yin meditation, also comes yang! I sense the start of my Spleen and Liver healing.

Other benefits observed thus far:
-Wake  up more alert. No grogginess- even at 4 am in morning.
-Mind is more focused. Last few days of vipassana I pulled out a book ( yet another no-no. Oops) and noticed I could read faster and didn't fall asleep either! Annie - if you're reading this, it's true , don't laugh or roll your eyes!
- More efficient. Times when mind began to race, sometimes 2-3x within 30sec, but I was able to instantly return to clear quiet mind. I didn't give myself a hard time for not meditating like i did before. Learned to skip all that time consuming, unnecessary...um crap!

All right. That  is it for now. If you want to know more, just ask!

Vipassana part 1- pain and anger

Vipassana. Not sure  if I should even write about  this because it's now of the past. Also not even sure how to verbalize the plethora of sensations, emotions, and processings experienced!

Oh what the hell. It's a present  memory! And it will help me solidify my understanding of meditation, and then so I can share it!


Briefly, vipassana is a form of mediation anyone can do, non sectarian, universal . Course  is a silent 10 day course. Wake  up bell 4am. Last mediation ends  at 9pm.

First few days were excruatiatingly painful- physically and mentally. Physically, my neck and back made me feel old. Body hated me for sitting countless hourss in  day (I think more than when I was in school)! Mentally, from only sitting meditation and  from all the nos and can't-do list. All created so much anger, upset and new sankharas...exactly what's not suppose to happen.

So of course I rebelled. I controlled  my breathing- pranyama , I chanted sanskrit mantras and  even did some  yoga ..sometimes visualized sequences in my head, sometimes secretly in my room. All to maintain sanity and attempt to soothe my liver qi.

Marley, if you're reading this, came  to mind many times while  there to intensely question you, why you didn't warn me!!

Day 3 ..4..5...6...

Each day got easier and  more bareable .Relatively. Each day was also  roller coaster in itself. By day 4 or so it was enforced to maintain complete stillness for the three 1hr group sessions. So i put all my effort into those to stay still and meditate ..even if not 100percent vipassana exclusive. So subsequently, during the other meditations ( yes that's all we did meditation and then more meditation), I would be fidgeting and mind racing.

10th day. Who knows what results would have  been if I had followed all rules and gave  100. But received what I put  in and in the e nd I am quite content with outcome. No regrets..

Zhou - The answer to all ailments

Have I not learned anything in AOM school? Zhou (congee) is the answer to everything! Everything.  It's taken me 4 days since this wind heat to finally get a nice hot bowl of bland zhou. Feel instantly better.

----

Next Stop - Thailand! Sawadee ka!

Orange you a lime?

Stopped by the market to pick up a lime to make limeade for my cold. Small green round fruit, right? Well, got home, only to find out it was a tangerine. Don't be fooled. Tangerines in Taiwan are green. And they can be small, like a lime...
http://www.omg-facts.com/Science/Oranges-Are-Green-Not-Orange-When-Grown/52278

How are you going to know  if qing pi is really qing pi and not chen pi?

U bike, I bike, let's bike

UBikes! First 30min free. Every time. Still super cheap after that.
Ah, so this is what it is like to bike and cruise in a city without hills!

Must say, was a bit stressful at times with all the peds, motorcycles, and other bikers, but you adapt pretty quickly - if not, figure out which streets have the nice wide open sidewalks, or follow other bikers to open a pathway ...reminds me of in China, where we would wait to cross the streets with the wise old man.  

Reliving the Taiwan campus life

Da-an district - where I spent most of my time last time I was here, studying and doing yoga in the park. Shida University has a great mandarin learning program if you are ever interested! It's also the school my mom went to :) I failed to visit the main campus last time, so that is what I did yesterday.

Shida University

Shida Unversity

Da-an sen lin gong yuan (forest park)

Giant Rubber Ducky

Traveled to the Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the southern end of the island for a week to see family...and I guess I scored - got to see a giant rubber ducky, the huang se xiao ya too- not sure why but I guess it's on tour and all should pay it a visit. It sure was giant. http://rubberduck-kaohsiung.tw/english/1.asp

Remember seeing someone in China with a duck backpack. Now I get it.

Grandparents are cool

Nainai's fav place - A Buddhist temple.

Inspired to practice calligraphy

Dropped Nai Nai (paternal grandma) off to calligraphy class - she takes 3 classes/week. Still a xue sheng (student) at 90 (ish?) years! I think I'll continue to be a student too with no distress.

Also worth mentioning, the whole car ride there she was patting her meridians, massaging LI4 hegu, and doing her eye exercises.

One of Grandma's earlier works

A notebook I stumbled upon

Waigong (maternal grandpa) and the uncles were playing mahjong all day till the evening for three days! Yima aunt tells me this is why Waigong is so sharp in the mind and why also mahjong is becoming popular in the West.

He also lives on the 4th floor with no elevator!

Happy 94 Waigong!

Now, I just wish I could understand you more than 50% of the time through that thick Guangdong accent...it's often funny, that I know.

Rando Thoughts, Lessons, and Pending Questions

1. Washing machines are a luxury. Dryers are surplus (or shi) and a tad wasteful (at least in warm sunny cities).

2. Why Asians hold a strict "no shoes in the house" rule and wear slippers instead. I used to think the rule was overly OCD and that slippers were silly and funny looking. Then recently when brought to this world of Chinese Medicine, I thought the slippers were to protect the "kidneys," and that the no shoes rule was still OCD. Now, I am certain that both are used conjunctively because the streets outside are just gross and all shoes are "squatter-shoes."

3. Why Asians are stereotypically stingy in the US. In China, common denominations are 1 yuan, 5 yuan and 10 yuan = $0.17, 0.84, 1.67 respectively. 20Y and 50Y are large bills = $3.33 and 8.33. The largest bill is a 100Y = $17. Every yuan makes a difference --ie. every USD dime makes a difference. A bottle of water should be around 2 yuan. If they ask for 4Y, an extra 34 cents, you are being ripped off.

Just saying.

4. Think the secret to pain-free longevity is a combo of tea, hard beds, parks, and qigong.

Zi teng lu, Wistaria House

Zi teng lu, Wistaria House

5. My little nephews love (may be too strong of a word) vegetables. I took a pic of him eating broccoli (or as they call it, hua hua tsai cause I thought it was adorable and its not common to see 2 year olds chomping on their greens. I thought this may be representative of all Asian kids, but my cousin claims its just them, that they are the special ones. 'course.


6. Clarify the names of all your relatives before you see them. Not everyone is a simple Uncle Joe or Aunt Mary ---nope, everyone has their own special name depending how you relate to them. Are they maternal or paternal? Are they younger or older? etc etc. Whenever I am introduced to someone for the first time, the relatives around me congregate for a moment to figure out how I should call him or her. I finally decided to Google this. What this site explains isn't even comprehensive! http://www.expatintaiwan.net/family-names/

Had dinner with a bunch of relatives. I think I should draw a family tree.

7. Pending question --Why for ex. at restaurants, are you not just given one sufficient paper towel or napkin, but instead, a box of tiny thin tissues? Not sure which is more consuming...

8. Pending question 2 --Would I look different if I grew up in Asia, if so how so and by how much?

bye bye China, li ho Taipei

Li ho (ni hao)! Day 1 of 23 in Taipei. Just when I thought I could finally get a chance to relax and rejuvenate, I was bombarded with two adorable but frenzied nephews of 2 and 4 years.

Upon arriving the 4 yr old attempted to teach me Chinese via his fav book, Encyclopedia of dogs. After 15 some dogs, " Aunt, which ones do you remember?" "None of them...." little guy is testing me! We are def related. Is this what its like to be tested Chinese? Sorry TCM peeps.

Haha, but  the next day we went to zoo and he's like " Aunt, climb the stairs with me!" "Yes!" Only a few people ever climb stairs with me when there's an adjacent escalator

.

48 hrs later the two rascals still have yin xu and ample yang and my qi xu cannot compete...so I escape on a walk while they nap. I lived here for 3 months 3 years prior so I jogged my spacial memory of the local neighborhood.  I remember experiencing culture shock 3 yrs ago, but after being in all or nothing China, this place seems almost peaceful. Someone said "excuse me" as opposed to physically moving and pushing me, (some) cars yield on left turns to peds, no split pants babies (yet), and more to come I am sure.

Plans:  study with Shang Han Lun doc starting tomorrow, tea tastings, celebrate Grandpa's 94, eat less oily Taiwanese xiao chi (small eats), and...practice Chinese of course :)

Pics to come

Nong ho! Shanghai in one post

Two weeks in Shanghai full of jammed packed school (minus a couple skipped days...). On top of 6hrs of clinic/class, we attempted to explore the city, see, shop, eat, and do. Just when I thought I had time to reawaken my "spleen" and reenergize, I was given yet another TCM learning opportunity, to experience full on spleen qi xu and damp. Yay.

From Shanghai Museum of TCM

Zhong qiu jie Mid-Autumn moon festival

Shanghai - nothing like Chengdu or Yunnan and probably no where near my top picks of cities to return to or visit in China. Yes, it is much cleaner, less spitting, less split-pants babies, more english speakers...but getting anywhere was a task and required time and energy we simply were deficient of. And of course, it is a major financial center and city. The pushing continued. People were in a hurry.

Much of our free time was spent shopping - for example at the pearl or fabric market. Maybe I was just too depleted, but I would not return to the fabric market - way too overwhelming - both the fabric variety and the sellers. Don't want to be negative, so lets just say if you plan to go there, if possible, buy off the rack or ask around to know which stall to shop at.

Circus! another clear example of how China is all or nothing. Man juggling a giant ceramic pot, men flipping and turning on ceiling-high stilts, 4 or 5 motorcycles circling in a tight enclosed glass ball at 50mph or faster.

Learned only two Shanghainese phrases. xie xie ni - xia xia nong and ni hao = nong ho!

Last day in Shanghai was the last day together...and last time I'll see these crazy peeps for a few months to years?! shei zhi dao (who knows)!

Saying goodbye is never easy. We've had "graduation" and last day at BCNH clinic, but this goodbye was different. It definitively shook my Lungs and Heart (even after PMSing hardcore).

Da jia safe travels!

Ethnic Village

We arrived a bit late in the day (6pm), so we missed the performances and other activities. It seemed to be mostly touristy with many similar shops selling all the same trinkets and clothes. Just as we were fed up with disappointment, we entered a tea shop and asked to try a few pu-erh varieties.


Weather or not the tea was really tasty, or if because the host was just really attractive, the tasting carried on for about 2 hours. (Sorry, I guess both Kristina and I were too tranced to remember to take a picture). He just kept refilling our little teacup. He was also much more smooth and suave with his pouring than the last place we went to. No, he didn't speak english, but kept us entertained with his jokes, or to Kristina, what I translated...or didn't translate. "Just run a few laps later." "It's okay, there is a bathroom close by." Alright, last pot. We'll just finish this one up...times 3." Anyway....we left with a few cakes each, a little drunk and stoned off of pu-reh, and hungry because pu-erh is fermented and good for digestion! Dr. Li Dong Yuan would approve. :D

Pure beauty, we almost cried.

After the horseback riding excursion, we had "talked" to the hotel manager about things to do the next day. "Kristina, you wanna see scenery...?"

9am we got a knock on the door. "We're ready for you when you are." Again, not sure what we were getting ourselves into, but beyond satisfied with the journey. Pictures do not do justice. This place was a bit of a preserved sanctuary, so beautiful, we almost cried. For the first time, I saw no smoking signs. For the first time, I saw water so clean and clear, the locals were drinking it straight up! and For the first time, I felt I could walk at my own pace, not be rushed, I could "man man zhou." 

 

 

 

Lijiang and horseback riding?!

I feel the pushing culture started to agitate me at the train station from Kunming to Lijiang. I couln't understand why everyone was so eager to get on the train when we all have assigned seats. Kristina told me I needed to channel my inner Chinese and push more. She is always waiting for me, 5-10 people in front of me. Wood.

Train situation was a bit shocking, growing up where privacy is a right and expectation. I knew there would be bunks, just thought we would at least get little curtains for a little privacy.

Arrived around 6am. It was raining, dark.....and we had no idea where to go. oops. Scratched the Tiger Leaping Gorge plans due to rain. So we asked the taxi coordinator to take us to a hotel in the city. All worked out and we found a place to stay for a night. Later in the day, after wandering around the local area, we asked the front desk "what fun things can we do around here?" Again this is all in Chinese. They spoke NO english. After filtering out a lot of untranslatable surplus vernacular, I turned to Kristina, "umm you wanna ride horse and boats, and see things?" So that is what we did and beyond satisfied with our decision.

 

Hello Yunnan

Goodbye zai jian Chengdu. Though only in Chengdu for only 2 weeks, twas a bittersweet goodbye to the city and hotel we called home and to some friends (Kristan, Heather, and Ping) who flew back to Seattle. 

Hello Yunnan! Leaving our little Bastyr China safety bubble, Kristina and I headed to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan (and soon after, Lijiang). My first feeling was that it felt like Seattle, like home, with the cleaner and cooler air, the mountains, and greenery.

Why Yunnan? My maternal grandmother is from Yunnan. Not much more is known than that, but was a strong enough reason to go in and of itself. To top if off with many many cherries, It's suppose to be the most culturally and biologically diverse province in China. With that, hundreds of its plant species are used in Chinese medicine - like yunnan bai yao!! Last but not least, pu-reh tea!!
 

I'm so thankful Kristina decided to come with me last minute. Exploring a (relatively) foreign country can be stressful. My focus was Chinese communication, and her's was navigation. Together, we made a pretty good team :)

Qingcheng Shan/Mountain

The University took us to QingCheng Shan, a mountain though full of vendors and people, offered a unique form of beauty with all the temples and pure energy that comes with that.

Little short stairs led us the whole way up. The whole way. Many were slanted upwards too so not only were our quads burning , but we had to waddle duck-toed. Ooh China, sometimes I just don't understand. 

Insert qingcheng, long lived, bagua, qingchengtop